1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pedestal closure assemblies for storing power and telecommunications equipment, and more particularly to the latching mechanism which allows the mounting plate to be securely affixed in and manually removed from the interior space of the housing of the pedestal closure assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telecommunications, cable television, power distribution equipment and the like, including primary cable loops, terminal blocks, and connections between a primary cable loop and a terminal block are commonly located out-of-plant and subject to ambient weather conditions. Since the necessary equipment is located outside, a protective covering is required to safeguard the equipment from human interference as well as from the environment. Therefore, such protective covering must provide structural as well as environmental protection.
Typically, the protective covering is produced in the form of a pedestal. The pedestal structure includes a housing with a sufficient volume occupying a small area and placeable in a convenient working orientation for housing the aforementioned equipment. Inside the housing, cable pairs may be interconnected to each other. Such interconnections are made at a connector block which is mounted to a universal mounting plate inside the pedestal closure assembly. The connector block includes a number of terminals and the pairs of wires in the cable are stripped of their insulation and connected to the terminals.
A lower housing section of the housing is recessed and secured in the ground, and has a passageway to permit underground cables to extend therethrough. The cables extend through the lower housing section and are covered by the upper housing section which locks to the lower housing section. The pedestal, when assembled and installed, should have sufficient structural strength to resist minor impacts as well as other environmental conditions such as wind, snow accumulation or precipitation impact.
Presently, commercially available pedestal closure assembly housings and mounting plates are constructed of metal. Many prior art mounting plates are locked permanently into place and have hinges that allow the mounting plate to only be moved back and forth or left to right while attached to the housing. Mounting plates are also presently attached using bayonet slots and lance forms. Also, presently available commercial mounting plates are flat and do not allow for a large number of attachments thereto because of a lack of internal area in the housing. In addition, assemblies are built with a service door located on the front of the assembly to allow servicing of the internal equipment attached to the mounting plate located inside of the assembly. However, the service door of the prior art does not eliminate the need to excavate the lower housing section of the ground in order to allow addition and deletion of connections inside the housing.
The present method of locking the mounting plate into place poses several problems, not the least of which is that the prior art mounting plates are not removable. In addition, the mounting plates attached with a bayonet slip or lance form are not securely attached, and can be easily compromised. Also, the service door can be cumbersome and is not easy to work with. Oftentimes, once the pedestal is implanted into the ground, the service door is located at least partially below ground level, and the pedestal needs to be partially unearthed in order for work to be completed inside the pedestal enclosure. Sometimes, the door can be opened by unauthorized personnel, and the internals of the pedestal closure assembly can be left vulnerable to vandals or the weather.
Additionally, costs of fabricating metal pedestal closure assembly housings and mounting plates is higher than for non-metallic ones. Furthermore, since metal pedestal closure assemblies are relatively heavy, it takes costly and time-consuming labor to install them correctly and securely.